


Heaven's On Fire

by aeon_entwined



Series: Love and Loss [2]
Category: War Horse (2011)
Genre: (that was a borrowed tag), Angst, M/M, Manpain, Tragic WWI homos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-21
Updated: 2012-01-21
Packaged: 2017-10-29 21:33:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/324382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeon_entwined/pseuds/aeon_entwined
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first time they have sex after Jim’s return is almost four weeks later.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heaven's On Fire

**Author's Note:**

> Sequel to [Homecoming](http://archiveofourown.org/works/324301) for [Amanda](http://pprofoundbond.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr!

The first time they have sex after Jim’s return is almost four weeks later.

Jamie is too paranoid about aggravating the man’s obviously healing injuries to ask for anything more than kisses as they wake up next to each other, or gentle touches that remind each other of their existence on this plane. Whenever Jim grips his flank or tries to demand more, Jamie flinches away and carefully tucks him beneath their blankets or quickly offers him a seat to rest his leg.

Jim doesn’t like it. That much is obvious. Jamie can see the banked fire in his eyes when he _knows_ he’s being coddled. But he can’t fucking help it. He’s not going to lose this man again to his own selfishness.

While the hail of bullets across the field had knocked Nicholls clean off Joey’s back, his torso remained almost unscathed. A bullet had shattered part of his hip, rendering him with a permanent limp in his left leg, and several had clipped his ribs. But his uniform, mediocre body armor, and sheer dumb luck ended up saving his life.

The way he tells it, despite being in an extraordinary amount of pain and nearly in shock, he’d managed to play possum until the Germans had gotten bored of poking through the dead strewn across the field. After they’d left, he’d managed to drag himself off the field, find one of the horses that hadn’t been able to be caught, then make his way to one of the farmhouses several miles away. The farm-owners took pity on him and brought him to a doctor. And, as they say, the rest is history.

Jamie knows there’s more than that, things Jim maybe isn’t ready to talk about yet. But that’s alright. He’s here and he’s _alive_.

He’s alive and so warm and oh _god-_

Jamie braces his hands on either side of Jim’s head on the pillows, eyes shut tight as he carefully, so carefully, lowers himself onto the man’s cock, the passage made easier by the slick and his own preparation.

Jim’s lying below him, legs splayed out comfortably, fingers dug firmly into the meat of his thighs. Those impossibly keen eyes of his are closed, his brow scrunched up slightly, almost every muscle tensed.

He’s beautiful like this, Jamie thinks after opening his eyes, but it’s not as though he isn’t beautiful all the time. But here … here he’s stripped down to something less than the skin and the muscle and the bone of the human body.

Here, Jim Nicholls is laid bare all the way to his soul. Jamie knows he’s just as naked, stripped equally bare, and that’s why they fit so well together.

He begins to move, slowly rocking his hips forward and back so that each movement draws a quiet gasp out of Jim’s throat. The man’s eyes are still squeezed tightly shut, and something twists in Jamie’s gut. He needs to see Jim. He needs to see everything because this is _real_ and he needs to remind them both of that.

“Jim,” he rasps, fingers twisting in the pillow covers as he begins to move faster. “Jim, keep your eyes fixed on mine. Please, can you do this for me?”

It takes a second, but Jim’s eyes snap wide open, pupils large enough to have almost completely swallowed the incredible colors in his irises.

Jamie’s eyes burn but he swallows the rising tide within in order to forge onward. He bites out a tight laugh, a billion emotions he can’t even name flaring to the surface of his consciousness as he watches Jim lock their gazes together.

The feeling is incendiary; caught between two points of pleasure with absolutely no middle ground.

Jim’s cock is a heavy presence in his body, reminding him of just how much they’ve gained and lost together. He wonders how long they’ll have this for. He had believed for so long that his entire life had been left in France, but now they have a second go of it. They have a second chance.

He can’t remember the last time he blinked, but he won’t lose eye-contact with Jim. Not now.

There’s an attractive flush staining the man’s cheeks, and his breath is coming harsh and shallow. He’s not in pain; that would merit an entirely different expression. And Jamie can’t help feeling a bit proud at having managed to evoke this sort of a response from his partner.

The thought disintegrates almost as quickly as it had formed as his climax slams through him. It feels as though it’s being dragged up from his toes, up his spine, and through his skull. Every nerve feels as though it’s being scalded and Jamie scarcely has time to buck forward and seal their lips together before their eyes slam shut and the connection severs.

Jamie comes back to himself eventually, then disentangles himself as quickly as possible so he can lie out beside Jim and carefully ensure that he hasn’t overtaxed himself.

His expression must be a frightened sort of concerned because Jim laughs softly at him and merely kisses him. The man shifts closer, so their bodies sort of meld together and their arms find their way comfortably around each other.

It feels impossibly _safe_.

He’s exhausted enough that simply having Jim in his arms is enough to help him find his way to unconsciousness again. Things like fear and paranoia can wait for tomorrow, he thinks as Jim snuffles quietly against his throat.

For now, it’s just them. And that’s enough.


End file.
